Electeic



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

LE ROY S. WHITE.

ELECTRIC GAS LIGHTING APPARATUS. No. 324,058. Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

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N. PETERS Phnmumo m her, wnhin wn, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LE ROY S. \VHITE, CF NATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRICAPPLIANCE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,058, dated August11, 1885. Application filed April 24, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, LE ROY S. YVHLTE, of Waterbury, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Turning On, Lighting, and Shutting Off Gasby Electricity, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates, principally, to that class of electric lightingand extinguishing device in which the shutting off of the gas iseffected by a valve which closes automatically when free, and theopening of the valve to turn on the gas is efiected by anelectro-magnet, and in which the sparking device for lighting the gas isoperated by the opening of the valve. Examples of such devices may befound in my Patents No. 282,816, dated August 7, 1883, and No. 298,531,dated May 13, 188 1. In carrying out this invention I use some featureswhich are shown and claimed in those patents; but instead of employing apermanent magnet for locking the valve open and unlocking it to let itclose, as described in those patents, I employ according to my presentimprovement, in combination with the electromagnet coil and a corecarrying a gasvalve and movable vertically in the coil for opening thevalve, and serving by its upward move ment to also operate the sparkingdevices, an independent electro-magnet for unlocking the core and valve,and I lock the core in an elevated position, with the valve open, eitherby an armature actuated by the same magnet which opens the valve or by aspring.

The invention consists in novel combinations of parts, hereinafterparticularly described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 in the drawings is an outside view, on a scale larger than thenatural size, of an electric gas-burner embodying my invention. Fig. 2is a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection of the same in the plane indicated by the line :0 a; of Fig. 2.Fig. 4-is an eler atiompartly in section, of a portion of a burner andits appurtenances,illustrating a modification of my invention. Fig.5 isa horizontal section on the plane of the dotted lines y 3 Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

A A A designate the metal case which forms a gas-chamber, and alsoconstitutes the body of the burner and contains the electromagnet coilB, the core C of which is loose, and has at its lower end the gas-valvef. The upper contracted socket, A, of this case receives the buruertipand the principal armature D of the magnet, and the lower contractedsocket or base, A is intended to screw onto the gas-pipe.

The coil B of the electro-magnet is wound upon a tube, B, of brass,which is secured firmly into or integral with the base A and which hastightly secured on it the heads B B of non-conductin g material, betweenwhich the coil is contained. 1n the bottom of this tube B is thevalve-seatf, to which the conical valvefon the core C is fitted, and ashort distance above the base A there are lateral openings f f in thesaid tube, through which the gas, when the valve is open, passes freelyinto the case, wherein it circulates around the coil B, and whence ithas free access to the burner-tip. One end of the wire of the coil B isconnected with an eye-wire or hook, 0, and the other end with aneye-wire or hook, d, the said eye-wires or hooks being inserted gastightinto base A of the burner-case, but insu-" lated therefrom. The eye orhook 0 is to be connected by a wire, 0*, with the battery, (not hereshown,) and the eye cl is connected by a wire, 01*, with the sparkingdevice, as will be presently more fully described.

The core 0 has a broad head, C, around the upper part of which is aflange, 6, above which a small pin, m, works easily, but not looselyenough for the escape of gas through a hole in the top of the case.WVhen the core C is raised, by sending a current through the coil B, andthe valve thereby opened, the flange e pushes up the pin m against themetal lever G, which carries the movable contact-point of thecircuit-breaker, and so separates the said point, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, from the fixed contact-point j, which is attached to a post, F,which is firmly secured on the top of the case, such separationproducing the gasigniting spark. This post F is insulated from the case,and is connected by the wire (I and the hook or eye at with one end ofthe wire of the coil B.

The lever G works on screws 7t 7;, secured in r ing one or other buttonofa double key, from which two wires lead to the burner-one for the maincoil B and the other for the small the upper part of the case, but isnot insu- 1 electro-magnet Ethe normal condition of the key being thatwhich leaves both magnets in 1 open circuit. vided with a screw, 7, toadjust it for thefl WVhen the circuit is closed through the coil B,bypressing on the proper button of the key, the current is from thebattery through and l c to coil, out at (I to F, throughj contact-pointsat all times except at the instant of sparking.

portion of the tube B which projects above as of cup shape,) whichserves to support the armature a. horseshoe form. (See Fig. 3.) Thisarmature has connected with it by small yoke-pieces 0 0, of brass, asecond armature, 1', from the top of which projects a pin, it. This pinmay ,j, and G to casing, and thence by the Q'ZIS-PlPG to the ground. Thecore 0 is then lifted, and the valve/"thereby opened. The armature 9' isattracted toward the core C, and the pin it there- Under the head 0 ofthe core, in the exam- 1 )le shown in Fi s. 2 and 5 there is fast on a 1by brought under the thick part of the corehead 0, and caused to lockthe valve open.

.j The lifting of the valve causes the flange e of the coil a broadmetal flange, B (represented the core-head to raise the pin on againstthe 1 lever G, and cause the latter to break the con- ,small independentelectro-maguet E and its 1 This magnet is represented of tact atjj andso produce the lighting-spark. The button of the key having beendepressed only long enough or often enough to produce {the turning onand lighting, the key is left 3 free and the circuit open until it isdesired to be brought by the movements of the armatures either to theposition under the thick part of the head 0 ofthc core, as shown in Fig.2, where it will holdup the core and lock the valvefopen, or to aposition outside ofthe thick part of the head and under the flange c,where it will fail to support the said core and will unlock the valve,so that the valve is left free to close by gravitation. The movements ofthese armatures n r are so restricted by the room left for it betweenthe cupped margin of the flange B and the poles of the magnet E that thearmature a can move to the poles of 1D, and the armature r can approachthe core U very much nearer than it is possible for a, and hence whenthere is a current through the coil B the armature r is drawn toward 0near (llOllgll for the pin h to lock the valve open, and when there is acurrent through E the armature a is drawn toward the poles of the latterand made to move the pin h outward to a position to unlock the valve. itwill be observed that the two armatures always move in unison, bothbeing moved when the current is sent through either coil B or E, andthat either coil puts them in a position to be acted upon by the othercoil.

The wire 1) from one end of the coil of the elcctro-magnet 1) passesdown inside of the case and outside of the coil B to an insulatedeye-piece or hook, q, inserted tightly through the base of the case, andthis eye-piece or hook is to be connected by a wire, .9, with one poleof the battery. (Not here shown.) The wire i from the other end of thesaid coil is connected with the metal flange B.

The apparatus thus constructed is operated by a single battery, one poleof which is coir nected with s and the other with 0*, and the closing ofthe circuit through one electro-magnet on the other is effected by meansof one or other of two separate keys, or by pressturn off gas, when theother button of the key is depressed. The current now comes from thebattery to s, thence through (I and p to the magnet E, thence throughwire it to flange B, and through tube B to case, and thence by gas-pipeto ground. The armature n is then attracted toward the magnet E, and thearmature 1', moving with it, carries the pin it out from under the thickpart of the core'head O, and allows the core to drop by its own weight,and the valve to close.

In the modification illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5 the armature 1' isdispensed with, and the locking of the lifted core U with the valve openis effected by a spring, a, the lower part of which is secured to thebase A of the case, and the upper end of which is connected with thearmature a. The only other feature in which this modification differsfrom what is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 is in the form of the corehead 0,which here has a downwardly-turned flange, a. In this case all that thesmall independent electro-magnet does is to unlock the core, the lockingbeing effected by the pin 7L 011 the armature a coming under the edge ofthe flange c, and the unlocking by the armature a withdrawing the pin itfrom under the flange 0. \Vhen the circuit is closed through the coil B,and the core is lifted to bring the lower edge of the flange 0 above thepn h, the armature n, being free, is moved by LL16 spring a to bring thepin it under the said flange, and locks the core up and the valve jopen; but when the circuit is open on B and closed onE the attraction ofthe armature it moves it to carry the pin it from under 0, and unlocksthe core and valve.

\Vhat I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- 1. The combination, with a gasburnerhaving a case wherein isarranged an electromagnet coil, of a core movable vertically within thecoil of the clectro-magnet, and carrying a valve for controlling theflow of gas to the burner-tip, sparking devices, and a connectionthrough which the core operates upon them as it rises, to producesparking, a locking device for holding the core elevated and the valveopen, and a second electro-magnet for unlocking the lockin g device andallowing the core to fall to close the valve, substantially as hereindescribed.

2. The combination, with a gas-burner having a case wherein is arrangedan electromagnet coil, of a core movable vertically within the saidcoil, and carrying a gas-valve, and provided above the said coil with ahead or laterally-extending flange, sparking devices, and a connectionthrough which the core operates upon them as it rises to producesparking, an independent electro-magnet arranged above the mainelectro'magnet, and a laterally-movable armature and a stop which servesto hold the core elevated and the valve open, and which,when attractedby the independent electro-maguet, will withdraw the stop from below thehead of the core and allow the core to fall and close the valve,substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with a gas-burner and a case wherein is arranged amain electromagnet coil, of a core movable vertically in the coil, andcarrying a gas-valve, sparking devices, and a connection through whichthe core operates upon them in rising to produce sparking, anindependent electromagnet, and two armatures connected together, so asto move simultaneously, and carrying a stop for lockin g the core in itselevated position, one of said armatures being arranged to be attractedby a current through the main electromagnet coil, and the other by acurrent through the independent electro-magnet, substantially as hereindescribed.

4. The combination,with the burner-casing having a valve-seat at thebottom, the electromagnet composed of a tube, E, coil B, central movablecore, 0, and armature D, all within the said case, the valve f at thelower end of the said core, and the broad core-head G on the otheriendof said core, of the electro-magnet E, arranged within the said casingabove the first-named electro-magnet, the two connected armatures n and1', placed on opposite sides of the said core (J, and the locking-pin h,attached to one of said armatures, all substantially as hereindescribed.

LE BOY S. WHITE.

Witnesses:

CHAS. W. GILLETTE, MARY A. SoLoMoN.

